Meningitis Outbreak

Jim Dickson Excerpts

Tuesday 17th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Jim Dickson (Dartford) (Lab)]

I thank the Secretary of State for his statement, and I echo his words and those of other Members about the tragic loss of two young lives to meningitis as a result of this outbreak. Many Dartford residents remain understandably concerned, and I therefore welcome his assurance and those of the UKHSA that the outbreak is linked to a very specific venue and event. It has of course been encouraging to see the swift action from health authorities, as well as local public health teams, to trace those who attended Club Chemistry, and to offer preventive antibiotics to tackle the outbreak. Can the Secretary of State confirm for my constituents that those who attended the club should go immediately to designated sites for antibiotics, and that anyone else experiencing symptoms should contact their GP or dial 111 as soon as they can?

[Wes Streeting]

My hon. Friend is entirely right. I did not respond to a linked question from the shadow Secretary of State earlier, so let me let me respond to both questions now.

All cases are currently being treated as being connected with the Club Chemistry incident and cluster, but we are not taking that for granted: we remain open-minded and assess it continually as information comes in from patients and their families, which can take time because they are often very sick. Via the UKHSA, we are providing the opening times and locations of the four hubs. If people fear that they have been in close contact and are worried about the risk to themselves, they can come forward for antibiotics, which will be made available to them.

GP Contract

Jim Dickson Excerpts

Monday 16th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Kinnock]

Clearly, a lot of change is happening in the system, but that is because a lot of change was required. Frankly, we have to do what we are doing if we are going to get the NHS back on its feet and fit for the future, with the three big shifts set out in our 10-year plan. Part of that is about the structure. Our view is that we can consolidate more of the back-office activity, which will free up more resources and allow us to do more on the frontline. ICBs play a vital role in that, particularly in commissioning. We want to see more strategic commissioning and more resource and expertise put into the parts of the ICB that are delivering better outcomes in population health. We must also see less duplication and more streamlining of back-office functions. It is about getting more efficiency but also being more responsive to patients and practitioners on the frontline.

[Jim Dickson (Dartford) (Lab)]

I warmly welcome the Government’s reforms, which will ensure same-day access for GPs in urgent cases and will also make it easier to get an appointment online, finally moving towards ending the 8 am scramble. I recently visited Swanscombe health centre, where the brilliant team is under significant pressure because of the large number of new families moving to the area, particularly neighbouring Ebbsfleet, which has seen 5,000 very welcome new homes built so far. Will the Minister visit Swanscombe with me to see the work that the practice is doing and look at how we can get GP services designed into developments much earlier in the process in areas such as Ebbsfleet Garden City?

[Stephen Kinnock]

Hon. Members raise this issue with me regularly. There seems to be something of a disconnect when new developments are being built, whereby the section 106 agreement or the community infrastructure levy just do not seem to be delivering the social infrastructure that they should be delivering. I would be happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss that in relation to the specific case he raises. Then, of course, we could discuss the possibility of a visit.

Less Survivable Cancers

Jim Dickson Excerpts

Tuesday 6th January 2026 Westminster Hall

[Clive Jones]

It does. The more that people like me and others who have survived cancer talk about it, and about our experience of a delay and having the cancer spread, the more that will help others to come forward.

[Jim Dickson (Dartford) (Lab)]

I congratulate the hon. Member on securing this debate and the excellent speech he is making. He mentioned that the Government have said they will shortly publish the national cancer plan, which will include details of how they will improve outcomes for patients, speed up diagnosis and treatment, ensure that patients have access to new treatments and technology, and above all, improve cancer survival rates. Does he agree that it is critical that the plan also features key measures to address less survivable cancers, including supporting the roll-out of innovative detection tests and evaluating their use, supporting campaigns to raise awareness of symptoms, and producing a strategy for earlier and faster diagnosis?

[Clive Jones]

The hon. Member makes a very good intervention. He is absolutely right that we need to ensure that this is covered in the national cancer plan. From what I am hearing, I am optimistic that it will be.

NHS: Winter Preparedness

Jim Dickson Excerpts

Monday 15th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Wes Streeting]

Thanks to the decisions taken by this Labour Government, we have increased funding for general practice by £1.1 billion, we deployed not just 1,000 more GPs to the frontline in our first year as promised but 2,500 and, through reforms to the Carr-Hill formula, we are restoring the deprivation link to health funding. As a result, the poorest communities with the greatest needs are receiving greater care, support and investment. All this is undoing the damage left by 14 years of Conservative government and it is only possible because people chose to elect Labour MPs.

[Jim Dickson (Dartford) (Lab)]

Last week, I met leaders from Darent Valley hospital in my constituency. Apart from discussing progress made on the new intensive care unit that the Government are investing in at the hospital, which is a sure sign that the Government are starting to turn the NHS around, it was clear from the conversation that the rise in flu admissions is already having a big impact on A&E waiting times and that care is having to be administered in corridors. Does the Secretary of State agree with the message that the hospital leadership team wanted to amplify: anyone who wants to help the NHS should go to their GP or their local pharmacy and get a vaccination as soon as possible, if they have not already done so?

[Wes Streeting]

That is very good advice on vaccination. If people require health services and it not an accident or an emergency, they should call 111, visit the website or use the NHS app. There are plenty of services available to help people, but as people will have seen on their television screens and social media feeds, the current pressures mean that the emergency department is not a place to be, unless they have had an accident or it is a genuine emergency.

International Men’s Day

Jim Dickson Excerpts

Thursday 20th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Amanda Martin (Portsmouth North) (Lab)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Cannock Chase (Josh Newbury) on securing this important debate and on his eloquent and brave words to open the conversation.

As he said, today is a chance to celebrate the men and boys in our lives, acknowledge the challenges that many face, and recognise the positive roles they play in our families, workplaces and communities, so let me begin with my own. I want to celebrate my dad, Terry, my brother, Lee, and my partner, Robin, who are all fantastic role models, brilliant men and hugely important to me, our family and friends. I also want to celebrate my fabulous nephews, the young dad, Luke, and Frankie who turned 10 this month, as well as my male friends and colleagues in this place. Finally, I want to take a moment to celebrate my three beautiful sons. I say to them, “As you make your way in this changing world, you make me proud every day with your openness, your kindness, your humour, and your love and respect for each other and for those around you. I love you boys.”

Every man in my life has faced challenges, be it school or workplace bullying, health conditions, disability, bereavement from illness or suicide, or loneliness. The difference is that they had each other and, crucially, they felt able to talk and to ask for help, but too many men do not. The statistics are stark: one in five men does not live to 65, more than 5,000 men die by suicide each year, nearly 1 million men are unemployed, and paternity leave is a class issue and works against the self-employed.

These numbers are not abstract. They are real lives: young men lost in education, and fathers struggling to balance work and family, including some going through break-ups and separation from their kids. They are veterans adjusting to civil life, older men being pushed out of the labour market, and men of all ages wrestling with health worries but determined not to be a burden.

It is partly because of these realities that colleagues, partners and I have established a Labour group for men and boys. Our purpose is simple: to ensure that this Government build policies and politics that better represent men and boys and, in doing so, to improve outcomes for everyone. We believe in a modern, positive vision of masculinity that strengthens rather than undermines gender equality.

Men feel that their identity has been shaken by rapid change and feel that so much of life is out of their control. They mistrust politics and politicians, and in that vacuum toxic, dominance-based narratives can gain ground, so it is important that we as a Government have their back. We need to offer hope, be inclusive and offer a story of what British manhood should be built on: pride, purpose, belonging and trust.

Supporting men and boys is not a zero-sum game. It is about listening, acting and rebuilding trust. This Labour Government are already taking action. We have abolished exploitative zero-hours contracts, raised the minimum wage and launched England’s first ever men’s health strategy. We are reforming apprenticeships, delivering pride in place investments and strengthening communities. The Government must take responsibility—

[Jim Dickson (Dartford) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for her excellent speech. I have heard her talk glowingly about her boys to me and to others, and she is doing them real justice in her speech. I believe she is absolutely right to welcome the men’s health strategy, which was published yesterday; it is a fantastic document and road map for us.

Does my hon. Friend agree—especially given that her boys are still growing up and in early manhood—that young men are particularly prey to the problems of gambling, particularly online gambling and rapid turnover gambling, and that it is really welcome that the men’s health strategy contains proposals to tackle the real problem of men and gambling from the grassroots upwards?

[Amanda Martin]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. Online safety is also crucial in protecting boys from harmful content, misogyny and gambling promotions, which he mentions.

The measures that this Government have taken are a start. We know that we need to do more to restore trust, dignity, opportunity and a sense of belonging, where too many men have been forgotten and ignored, so that men see and feel the changes in their everyday lives.

I want to highlight the work I have been doing with tradespeople through my tool theft campaign—Members may have heard of it! Tool theft disproportionately affects male workers, many of them self-employed or running small businesses. Losing tools is not an inconvenience; it can mean lost wages, contracts, reputations, and indeed lives. I launched the campaign after hearing countless stories of livelihoods being destroyed, and I thank everyone who has shared their experience. Their voices matter, and they are part of what we celebrate today.

When it comes to fatherhood, let me give a small nod to every tired dad out there, with a dad joke. Madam Deputy Speaker, what do you call a woman who sets fire to all her bills? Bernadette! Yeah, my boys will probably roll their eyes at that, but beneath the joke lies something very serious. The Dad Shift campaign is showing how many fathers want to be present in the first precious weeks but simply cannot afford it. Strengthening paternity leave is not just about fairness for dads; it is about giving the best starts, helping families to build resilience and shaping the kind of society we want to be here in Britain.

I want to leave Members with a quote from a brilliant book, “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse”, which captures the courage I see in so many men every day:

“‘What is the bravest thing you’ve ever said?’ asked the boy.

‘Help,’ said the horse.

‘Asking for help isn’t giving up,’ said the horse. ‘It’s refusing to give up.’”

That is the bravery we celebrate today.

Postural Tachycardia Syndrome

Jim Dickson Excerpts

Tuesday 14th October 2025 Westminster Hall

[Cat Smith]

The hon. and learned Gentleman has picked up on a theme later in my speech, which I hope he will enjoy.

[Jim Dickson (Dartford) (Lab)]

A decade ago my constituent Laura Cordell, who has lived with PoTS for 10 years, was rushed to A&E with a dangerously high heart rate. She was later told by a doctor that she had PoTS symptoms, but she was just told to go away and take more salt, with no follow-up or referral. Over the next 10 years she sought help on a number of occasions but was not diagnosed; in the end she had to go private for a diagnosis, which is obviously not an option available to most people. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need a lot more research and greater awareness of PoTS, particularly among frontline medical professionals such as GPs, who are often the first port of call for our constituents?

[Cat Smith]

I very much agree.

Suicide Prevention

Jim Dickson Excerpts

Thursday 11th September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jim Dickson (Dartford) (Lab)]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme (Lee Pitcher) for securing this debate on what I think we can all agree is a critical national public health issue. It is a timely debate given yesterday’s World Suicide Prevention Day, promoted by the wonderful Samaritans, who do so much good work, and whose badge I am proud to be wearing today.

Figures from the House of Commons Library highlight the previous long-term decline in suicides up to the year 2000 has seen some reversal in recent years, with 2023 seeing the highest number since 1999. It is right, therefore, that when the Government committed in our manifesto last year to a renewed drive to tackle the biggest killers, suicide was included. The recently published 10-year health plan sets out how the Government intend to put into practice the aim of transforming our mental health system so that support is available when people need it. I very much welcome the commitment to a cross-Government approach to suicide prevention, which mirrors the successful strategies that I have seen in my time in local government.

I have been pleased, since my election last year, to have been able to work with an excellent charity that has been mentioned by others, Gambling with Lives, to highlight the troubling link between gambling and suicide, with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities estimating that there are up to 500 gambling-related suicides each year. I agree with both Gambling for Lives and my hon. Friend the Member for Chelsea and Fulham (Ben Coleman) that the responsibility for gambling should be transferred to the Department of Health and Social Care, and that there should be investigation of all gambling- related suicides and lessons learned from every case so that we can prevent future deaths. At present, coroners do not always correctly identify the link between gambling and suicide, and that needs to change. I hope that Ministers will give full consideration to both those calls.

Local suicide prevention strategies have a crucial role to play. In my previous life, I was cabinet member for health on Lambeth council. We launched our own local suicide prevention strategy with the aim of bringing down the numbers of suicides, which saw the council target support at the groups identified by evidence as the most at risk: older men, the LGBTQ+ community, and a range of others. We rolled out suicide prevention training to everyone, free of charge, so that all residents were able to access it, but aimed the support particularly, as others have said, at key organisations in touch with at-risk groups in the borough. The training was all about how to have effective, potentially lifesaving conversations with people in a safe way, and we saw great take-up. Crucially, the council also launched a borough-wide mental health campaign aimed at supporting people on their mental health journey and at providing advice and wellbeing information on how to access services at the right time. That period saw a decline in the number of suicides, which I hope will continue.

In my constituency, I pay tribute to the newly constituted Dartford Safe Haven—a little like the Ashford Safe Haven mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Ashford (Sojan Joseph)—which, working closely with GPs, provides a walk-in service, out of hours, with the crisis support that so many need. I also pay tribute to North Kent Mind, which supplements local mental health services, providing vital additional help for those with mental health support needs. Let us all commit to making suicide prevention a successful national mission.

NHS 10-Year Plan

Jim Dickson Excerpts

Thursday 3rd July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Wes Streeting]

I am so grateful to my hon. Friend for all the work she does as chair of the all-party parliamentary group, for the personal and professional experience that she brings to this House, and for the wisdom, advice and insight that she has offered to help me make better decisions. I am absolutely determined to work with families, especially those who have suffered such grave injustice at the hands of the NHS. It is a wonderful institution, but sometimes when it fails, it fails spectacularly. The culture of denial and cover-up cannot be allowed to persist, and I will work with my hon. Friend to make sure that we end it.

On neighbourhood health, it is so important that we engage with families early, especially where they may be at greater risk of complicated pregnancy or harm, because we know this is an area of grotesque health inequalities. After birth, it is really important that we have strong health visiting, and care in the community and the home that does not just consider the interests of the baby, but asks questions of the mother. How is she feeling? How is she recovering? Is her partner coping? We have to look at the whole family, and I am sure we will get it right. I am determined to get this right, and it will be in no small part thanks to my hon. Friend’s leadership and support.

[Jim Dickson (Dartford) (Lab)]

I thank the Secretary of State for both his statement and the 10-year plan. I am delighted that residents in Dartford were able to play a full part in shaping its priorities through our consultation meeting in February. They will be really pleased to see not only the additional GP appointments, but the pressure being taken off their local hospital, Darent Valley, through the provision of better and more community services. The hospital was designed with a much smaller community in mind and is now suffering the consequences. Can the Secretary of State give me an idea of the pace of the roll-out of neighbourhood health centres? We could certainly do with one in Dartford.

[Wes Streeting]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his question—representation duly received. I reassure him that one of the ways we will ease the pressure valve on our hospitals is by doing more neighbourhood health. That helps to drive admission avoidance, speed up delayed discharges, and get much more effective flow of patients through hospitals. That is our commitment. We aim to roll out 40 to 50 neighbourhood health centres over the course of this Parliament, and if we can go faster, we will. I have no doubt that my hon. Friend, as a strong representative for Dartford, will make more representations to us shortly.

Mental Health Bill [Lords]

Jim Dickson Excerpts

2nd reading
Monday 19th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Jim Dickson (Dartford) (Lab)]

I thank everyone who has taken part in the debate, from the Secretary of State onwards. It has been moving and inspiring to see the House united on the need for change. It has been particularly useful for me to benefit from the professional expertise and the personal experience of so many Members who have spoken. My hon. Friend the Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey (Kevin McKenna), the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Dr Spencer), my hon. Friends the Members for Ashford (Sojan Joseph) and for Thurrock (Jen Craft) and the hon. Member for St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire (Ian Sollom) have all educated and moved me with their experience and knowledge.

It has long been known that the Mental Health Act 1983 is not fit for purpose, and I pay tribute to all the work that has been done so far, including the excellent review undertaken by Professor Sir Simon Wessely, commissioned by the former Member of Parliament for Maidenhead when she was Prime Minister. I know that the intent of the Bill both to strengthen the voice of patients and add statutory weight to their right to be involved in the planning for their care and to inform their choices about the treatment that they receive is strongly welcomed by Members on both sides of the House. Also welcome are the steps that the Government have taken since the election to start to transform mental health services with new funding—mentioned by the Secretary of State—and the plans to recruit 8,500 new mental health workers.

Before I deal with the substance of the Bill, may I ask the Minister whether, when he winds up the debate, he will be able to provide some reassurance about the future of the patient and carer race equality framework, which I believe is vital to the achievement of equality of outcome in mental health, and which I believe would be more effective as part of the Bill than simply as guidance? I know that that is the strongly held view of many of the experts by experience who have worked on PCREF.

One thing I know from my time in a previous role, when I helped to develop mental health services in Lambeth over two decades, is that a disproportionate number of people from African and Caribbean-heritage communities are detained under the Mental Health Act, as has been said by others. Figures highlighted by Mind show that rates of detention for black or black British groups are over three times those for the rest of the population. Similarly, black or black British groups are more than 10 times more likely than white groups to be subject to community treatment orders.

In Lambeth, working with organisations such as Black Thrive—set up by my great former colleague Dr Jacqui Dyer, among others, to radically change mental health services in south London and elsewhere—we showed that hearing people’s voices, early intervention, reducing stigma among African-Caribbean communities, and focusing on keeping people well via work and training provided by membership organisations, such as Mosaic Clubhouse, can prevent people from becoming ill and from tragically coming into the mental health system for the first time via the criminal justice system.

I welcome the changes in the Bill and the commitment from the Minister in the other place to improve data on outcomes and on patients’ experience of community treatment orders. Despite the passing of the Mental Health Units (Use of Force) Act 2018—otherwise known as Seni’s law—which was brought forward by my right hon. Friend the Member for Streatham and Croydon North (Steve Reed), the use of force in mental health settings remains too frequent, and that must be addressed as well.

Prevention work and intervention to address mental health needs at the earliest possible stage are critical, because if someone faces mental health problems when they are young, it can hold them back at school, damage their potential and leave them with lifelong consequences. That is why I warmly welcome the work that the Government are doing to bring vital services into schools so that they can intervene early, support pupils and help prevent conditions from becoming severe. It is really encouraging that mental health support teams should reach 100% coverage of pupils by 2029-30—the end of this Parliament.

Young people in Dartford, where I ran a well-supported engagement event last month, will absolutely welcome the introduction of Young Futures hubs in communities in England to deliver support for teenagers who are at risk of being drawn into crime or facing mental health challenges by providing open-access mental health support for children and young people in communities. I have seen that approach achieve excellent results at the Well Centre, a mental health centre run for young people in Herne Hill as part of Lambeth Together’s care partnership.

I very much look forward to seeing this legislation progress through the House and become law with the support of all Members. I will support it 100% as it does so.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Caroline Nokes)]

I call the shadow Minister.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jim Dickson Excerpts

Tuesday 6th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Wes Streeting]

We are absolutely convinced that better use of digital tools will enable us to reduce the number of missed appointments significantly and factor in the likelihood of no-shows, so that we can reduce waste and eliminate inefficiency. I understand the case for penalties that the hon. Gentleman is making, but that is not a route we want to go down until we have made those improvements and judged how effective they have been.

[Jim Dickson (Dartford) (Lab)]

T9. Far too many promises made by the last Government—promises that care would be moved out of hospitals and into the community—turned out to be hollow. From speaking to residents in Dartford, I know that hospital and community services have struggled to keep pace with new housing developments in the constituency. I am pleased to say that later this year in Dartford we will be seeing an expansion of our state-of-the-art community diagnostic centre, taking care closer to where people live. Does the Secretary of State agree that this is the start of Labour getting on with finally delivering that big shift, and will he visit Dartford with me—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I think Ministers have got the message. If they have not by this stage, I would be surprised. Who is answering?